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When my son was in preschool he brought home a picture for me. I did not recognize the picture so I asked him to tell me about it. It turns out that is was a map of the upstairs of our house, complete with windows, closets and other details. I knew right then that the child was gifted. I really don't care what the teacher thought when I asked for him to be tested. He is my child and it is my job to make sure that he gets an appropriate education.
Hate to tell you but when my son was three he could type and send an email to his Grandparents. He requested his own email. He actually created a musical program on my computer. He could tell time (not digital). He is not gifted nor did I think he was at the time. He was one of those kids who did not talk much but could type anything he wanted to say. He is in Junior High now. Testing at school indicates he is on the borderline of "gifted". His response to that? He laughed and said Phew, that's a relief! He has friends who are in GT and has seen the not-so-pleasant change in them. They have developed that "I'm better than everyone NOT in GT" attitude.
My reaction is the same as everyone's reaction when I told the school my youngest is gifted. I wait to meet the child and give it time.
Many parents have the signs of giftedness wrong. For example, many parents think early reading is a sign of giftedness when it's not. I was convinced dd#2 was not gifted because she couldn't read word one at 4. We have a really funny story about the day my husband almost killed himself shaving. He was shaving in the bathroom and dd was in her room where we had labeled everything in an attempt to get her reading. She want to the closet door and started reading the letters on the door. She read (not her real name) "M-A-R-I-E-S - Marie's -- C-L-O-S-E-T - "Door". My husband almost cut his throat with the razor because he was laughing so hard. She had, absolutely, no clue what sounds those letters made. Turns out she's in the upper 0.1% intelligence wise and early reading means nothing. I based my assessment of her being average on what everyone else thought was important. We also missed that dd#1 is also gifted because, by comparison to her sister, she doesn't look gifted. Dd#2 is just so gifted, everyone else pales by comparison.
When dd#2 was evaluated, at 4, at the request of her pedicatrician, the things they looked at surprised me. They wanted to know how old she was when she started sleeping through the night (she was 4 at the time and still not sleeping through the night - turns out really bright kids often can't shut their brains off at night), they wanted to know when she developed empathy and how strong it was, when she developed a sense of humor, whether she'd demonstrated a high ability to remember things, and whether or not she'd reached almost all of her milestones early. They tested logical reasoning, her memory and pattern recognition. They never asked whether or not she could read. I asked about that and they told me it's not when they learn to read that matters but how fast they progress once they start. So a child who starts reading at 3 and reads on a 3rd grade level entering 1st grade is normal while one that starts reading at 6 (like dd) and is reading on a 3rd grade level entering first grade is, likely, gifted. She started reading half way through kindergarten and then gained three years reading ability for every year until she could read at a 9th grade level. She stopped there because she, simply, had no need to read at a level higher than that at the age of 9. With no need to read at a higher level, she, simply never practiced reading at a higher level. She's in 8th/9th grade right now and reads at a 12th grade level.
We've been told to look at the wrong things and we're ignoring the right ones.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 01-22-2011 at 11:42 AM..
Hate to tell you but when my son was three he could type and send an email to his Grandparents. He requested his own email. He actually created a musical program on my computer. He could tell time (not digital). He is not gifted nor did I think he was at the time. He was one of those kids who did not talk much but could type anything he wanted to say. He is in Junior High now. Testing at school indicates he is on the borderline of "gifted". His response to that? He laughed and said Phew, that's a relief! He has friends who are in GT and has seen the not-so-pleasant change in them. They have developed that "I'm better than everyone NOT in GT" attitude.
This is why I prefer that dd not be in special classes. That and the fact it is she who will have to do the adjusting the rest of her life as the world will not adjust to her.
The school wants her to graduate at 16 with her associates degree but she wants to stay in high school and have a socal life. I'm with her. She fits in quite well and not going to CC at 14 won't make her any less intelligent. She's in a unique position where she can relax and enjoy high school while still pulling great grades (she'll never be a straight A student because she has too much of her mother in her. Sometimes, she just decides it's too much work for the A and passes on it. Not that I'd know anything about that. ). IMO, it's better for her to fit in than graduate early. 10 years from now no one will care how old she was when she graduated or whether she had an associates degree at 16 but the social skills and team skills she's learning staying with her peers and competing in sports will stay with her for the rest of her life.
Just like ADHD or ADD, there is this explosion of "MY KID'S A GENIUS" running rampant through education. My child could talk when they were 10 months, they were walking at 6 months, they were reading by 13 months and writing Pulitzer Prize winning material by 3 years of age....
TAG, AIG, or whatever they are called are about as rare as 6 figure lottery winners. Many of these students I have seen in schools are merely average students. Given the number of clueless kids now days I guess even the average ones look to be Einsteins.
How many times have I heard a parent proclaim their youngster is a prodigy only to ask the child can you do (insert a higher lever thinking skill for the current grade level) or ask an abstract question and the kid goes blank...Like the words were a different language.
GIFTED does not mean you have a 4.0 GPA....it doesn't neccassarily mean you can do work that is one or two grade level beyond your current placement.
GIFTED means you are functioning and able to think at HIGHER levels and process information in a way that you can apply it to the unknown. You are able to extrapolate information from what is known and create the unknown..
So what do I tell parents of wanna be prodigies?
Little Johnnie / Suzie is going to love this class....
To the OP, I would reserve judgment on whether or not their child was gifted or not until I saw some numbers.
Can "giftedness" be determined by the numbers? How many folks were complete imbeciles in school and went on to do great things?
And some of the smartest people are the dumbest when it comes to everday life and activities.
I truly believe that a gifted person is good in almost every academic, problem solving situation--not just one or two.
Can "giftedness" be determined by the numbers? How many folks were complete imbeciles in school and went on to do great things?
And some of the smartest people are the dumbest when it comes to everday life and activities.
I truly believe that a gifted person is good in almost every academic, problem solving situation--not just one or two.
Ok well you are using one definition of giftedness and I use the more standard one of top 1% via either IQ (we usually use WISC) or SAT. Are you basing your opinion on some sort of educational theory? If so I would very much like to read it if you have a link.
Additionally, if you accept the theory of multiple intelligences it is much more likely for people to be very gifted in one area instead of all of them. Do you consider savants to not be "gifted" if you think you have to be good at everything?
There are multiple areas of giftedness. One might be a poor student in writing and math, but a gifted visual artist or musician.
The trouble with a parent or regular teacher making a determination of giftedness is that most of the time, neither have the training nor impartiality to say for certain. That should be left to an outside evaluator. The teacher might be able to compare the child to others they've had in the past. The parent can certainly provide observations... they know their child better than anyone else, but they are also the least impartial person in the equation... their role in the child's life is to adore them above every other creature on the planet, to think they're the cutest, the smartest, etc. It's almost impossible to be objective.
I will say that in all the conferences I've sat in on over the years where the parents have tried to tell me or one of my colleagues that their child is simply too smart for one thing or the other they don't want to do in the classroom, it's only rarely been true and usually elicits a lot of inner eye rolling and tired remarks after the parent has left.
Johnny is too smart to have to show his work in math... I know he gets the problems wrong half the time, but he's really a genius... this school just doesn't see it!
Katie is too smart to have to take notes in history like the other kids... she can remember it all. Why should she have to write reports or turn in homework?
Why wasn't Stephen placed in the honors orchestra? He tells me that he's better than all the other kids in his class. He's so gifted he never even has to practice like they do. The teachers just don't see it like his father and I do.
I can think of one or two instances over the years where the child really was one of the brightest in their grade or class... all the other ones, pumpkin just wasn't so perfect in anyone's eyes but mom and dad's.
There are multiple areas of giftedness. One might be a poor student in writing and math, but a gifted visual artist or musician.
The trouble with a parent or regular teacher making a determination of giftedness is that most of the time, neither have the training nor impartiality to say for certain. That should be left to an outside evaluator. The teacher might be able to compare the child to others they've had in the past. The parent can certainly provide observations... they know their child better than anyone else, but they are also the least impartial person in the equation... their role in the child's life is to adore them above every other creature on the planet, to think they're the cutest, the smartest, etc. It's almost impossible to be objective.
I will say that in all the conferences I've sat in on over the years where the parents have tried to tell me or one of my colleagues that their child is simply too smart for one thing or the other they don't want to do in the classroom, it's only rarely been true and usually elicits a lot of inner eye rolling and tired remarks after the parent has left.
Johnny is too smart to have to show his work in math... I know he gets the problems wrong half the time, but he's really a genius... this school just doesn't see it!
Katie is too smart to have to take notes in history like the other kids... she can remember it all. Why should she have to write reports or turn in homework?
Why wasn't Stephen placed in the honors orchestra? He tells me that he's better than all the other kids in his class. He's so gifted he never even has to practice like they do. The teachers just don't see it like his father and I do.
I can think of one or two instances over the years where the child really was one of the brightest in their grade or class... all the other ones, pumpkin just wasn't so perfect in anyone's eyes but mom and dad's.
Conversations like this are why I have a policy of forgiving missing homework IF the student gets an A on the test. No A and the zeros stand. Take your pick. If you're that smart, get the A and I'll excuse the work.
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). IMO, it's better for her to fit in than graduate early. 10 years from now no one will care how old she was when she graduated or whether she had an associates degree at 16 but the social skills and team skills she's learning staying with her peers and competing in sports will stay with her for the rest of her life.
I love that.
